Room air conditioner mounting arrangement

ABSTRACT

A room air conditioner window mounting arrangement provided with an extendable frame carrying a self-coiling sheet material includes sheet-engaging latching means for preventing the sheet material from recoiling when the frame is extended.

United States Patent Boston, Jr. et al.

[111 3,811,370 [451 May 21, 1974 ROOM AIR CONDITIONER MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT Inventors: Ray W. Boston, Jr., Louisville;

Larry D. Potts, Jeffersontown, both of Ky.

Assignee: General Electric Company,

Louisville, Ky. Filed: Feb. 14, 1973 Appl. N0.: 332,282

US. Cl 98/94, 160/26, 160/240,

, 160/271 Int. Cl E06b 7/02 Field of Search 98/94; 160/26, 240, 271;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,978,120 10/1934 Watson 160/26 X 3,186,473 l/l965 Myers et a1. 160/26 3,552,470 1/1971 Metca1fe 160/26 Primary Examiner-Meyer Perlin Assistant Examiner-Ronald C. Capossela Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Francis H. Boos, Jr.

[5 7] ABSTRACT A room air conditioner window mounting arrangement provided with an extendable frame carrying a self-coiling sheet material includes sheet-engaging latching means for preventing the sheet material from recoiling when the frame is extended.

l0 Claims,,3 Drawing Figures BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Since room air conditioners are usually of a crosssectional area less than the area of the window opening in which they are mounted, it has been common practice to provide, either as a separate item or integral with the room air conditioner casing, adjustable mounting means for bridging or blocking the space between the room air conditioner casing and the adjacent sides of the window opening. Many of these mounting arrangements include a C-shaped frame movable relative to the air conditioner and including an end member for engaging the window side orjamb. A particularly useful material for blocking or filling the open space within the frame is a self-coiling, flexible sheet such as the polyester plastic laminate identified by the trademark Mylar of the DuPont Company. As taught in US. Pat. No. 3,552,470-Metcalfe, the coiled portion of such a self-coiling sheet material can be carried within a housing formed in the end wall of the extendable member and the free end anchored on or adjacent the air conditioner casing. As the extendable member is moved relative to the casing, the coil rolls or unrolls as required to bridge or close the-frame opening. In many mounting arrangements, and particularly in lightweight mounts, the tendency of the coiled Mylar to return to its coiled form, that is, the spring force exerted by the sheet in its uncoiled form. is so great that the self-coiling action of the sheet material can pull the frame member away from the jamb and towards the air conditioner case so that it is necessary to provide fastening means for preventing this action. For fastening purposes, the aforementioned Metcalfe patent teaches the use of a thumb screw which secures the movable frame relative to its guide track. However, the use of such fastening means is an inconvenience and makes it particularly difficult for an individual to install a room air conditioner in a window opening. Specifically, in a one-man operation, one hand is required to balance the air conditioner within the window openingand the other hand is used to extend the C-shaped frame member into engagement with the window jamb. Thus. a third hand is required to set the thumb screw as this must be done while the frame is held in engagement with the jamb against the biasing force ofthe self-coiling sheet material.

The present invention has as itsprimary object the provision of an improved locking means which can be operated by the same hand employed to move the extendable frame member into engagement with the window jamb.

SUMMARY OF THEINVENTION In accordance with the illustrated embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a room air conditioner window mount for blocking the space between the side of a window mounted air conditioner and the adjacent side of a window frame or jamb, the mount comprising a C-shaped frame movable relative to the air conditioner with the end thereof engaging the window jamb having a vertically extending housing containing a self-coiling sheet material for blocking the space between the frame end member and the air conditioner. The self-coiling sheet material has one end extending through a slot in the housing wall with means for securing the end to theair conditioner.- Latching means carried by one of the housing side walls adjacent the slot is slidably movable on that wall for clamping the sheet between the latching means and an adjacent housing wall to prevent the re-curling or re-winding of the" sheet material within the housing which would thereby retract the C-shaped frame member away from the jamb.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRE EMBODIMENT With particular reference to FIG. ll of the drawing, there is shown a room air conditioner 1 comprising a generally rectangular casing 2 adapted to be mounted within a window opening. The casing 2 of course contains the usual components of an air conditioning apparatus for treating room air circulated through the casing by way ofa grill 3 forming the front wall of the air conditioner. In mounting such an air conditioner in a window opening, the side walls 4 of the casing are usually spaced from the vertical sides 5 of the window frame so that means must be provided for blocking such space or spaces. Such mounting arrangements are normally adjustable in order to accommodate or be applicable to window openings of various widths.

The illustrated mounting arrangement comprises a C-shaped frame 7 including a vertical end member 8 an upper leg 9 and a lower leg 10 (FIG. 2) respectively slidably received in an upper guide 11, which may be. secured to the top wall of the casing, and a lower guide (not shown) similarly provided on the bottom or lower i side of the casing generally within the plane of the window frame. The opening or space defined by the C shaped frame and the adjacent side wall 4 of the air conditioner casing is blocked or covered by a selfcoiling sheet material 14 of the type described in the aforementioned Metcalfe US. Pat. No. 3,552,470, to

I which reference is made for a more complete description thereof, it being understood that a commercially available material for'this purpose is the DuPont material referred to hereinbefore.

The free or casing end of this sheet material is suitably secured, as by means of clamps 15, to. the air conditioner casing side wall 4 while the coiled portion 17 thereof iscoiled within a housing 18 provided in the end member. This housing 18 is defined in part by a front wall 19 and a side wall 20 facing the casing side wall 4. The forward edge 22 of the side wall 20 is spaced from the overlapping edge portion 23 of the front wall 19 to define a vertically extending slot 24 through which the sheet 14 is fed or moves during movement of the C-shaped closure member relative to the air conditioner l. Spaced guides 25 and 26 provided onthe adjacent surfaces of the upper and lower C-shaped frame members 9 and 10 receive the upper and lower edges of the uncoiled portion of the sheet material 14 and position the sheet material within the frame.

During. shipping of a room air conditioner of this type, in which the mounting means is part of the air conditioner, the C-shaped members are completely retracted into engagement with the respective side walls of the casing. After positioning the room air conditioner in a window opening, these members are extendedinto engagement with the adjacent sides of the window frame. As they are thus extended, the coiled sheet material unrolls or uncoils during the relative movement of the C-shaped frame members. Usually,

' I improved locking or latching means by means of which the window mount may be locked or latched in the.

open position with the same hand employed to extend it to that position. This latching means 30 is mounted on the end member 8 preferably about midway between its upper and lower ends as illustrated in FIG. 1 of the drawing. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawing, it comprises a U-shaped member including a front leg 31 overlyingthe front of'thewall. l9 ,anda rear leg 32 engaging the rear surface of that housing; wall 19. Upper and lower guides 33 (FIG. I) vertically position the latching means 30 on the wall 19 with the rear leg 32 of the latching means extending through the slot 24 in overlapping relationship with the portion of the sheet material 14 within that slot.

In its retracted position as illustrated in FIG. 2, that v is, the position of the latching means in which it is partially withdrawn from the wall 19, a projection 35 on the inner leg 32 is spaced from the housing wall 20 a sufficient distance so that the sheet material l4 can freely move through theslot and past the projection 35. To limit movement ofthe latching means in this unlatching direction, the front leg 31 is provided with a hook-shaped end portion 38 adapted to engage a catch 39 on the wall 19.

After the extendable frame member has been extended into engagement with the window frame or jamb 5, and by means of the thumb or finger of the same hand employed to extend the mount, the latching means 30 is slid inwardly into the housing to the position shown in FIG. 3 in which position the projection 35 approaches or entersthe slot 24 to clamp thesheet material 14 between the wall edge 22 of the slot and the projection 35. The extended portion of the sheet material 14 is thereby locked or prevented from. moving through the slot 24 thereby preventing recoiling of the sheet material and retraction of the frame member away from the jamb. For convenience, the front leg 31 of the latching means may be provided with a finger grip 40.

When it is desired to remove the room air conditioner from the window, all that is required for a release of the sheet material is a movement of the latch member 30 to its retracted position shown'in FIG. 2. The

self-coiling characteristic of the sheet material will generally, at least partially, retract the frame member toward the casing l and, as the frame member is manually pushed to a completely closed position, the sheet material automatically coils within the housing 18.

From the above description, it will be seen that there has been provided a latching means of simple and lowcost construction which can be manipulated by the same hand employed to move the extendable window mount. The latching means is maintained in firm engagement with the sheet material when in its latched position by the resiliency of the adjacent portion of the housing front wall 19 which is preferably composed of the plastic material.

While there has been shown and described a specific embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that it is not limited thereto and it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:

I. A room air conditioner window mounting arrangement for blocking the spacebetween the side of an air conditioner and a side of a window frame comprising:

a C-shaped frame movable relative to the air conditioner and having an end member for engaging said side;

said end member including a housing having a slot therein defined by the spaced edges of adjacent mutually perpendicular housing walls;

a self-coiling sheet material including a coil portion contained in, said housing and an end portion passing through said slot and including means for retaining said end relative to said air conditioner for blocking the space between said frame end member and said air conditioner; and

latching means carried by one of said housing walls adjacent said slot and movable to aposition for clamping said sheet between said latching means and the other of said walls.

2. A mounting arrangement according to claim 1 in which said one housing wall includes means for supportingsaid latching means for movement laterally of said one housing wall.

3. A mounting arrangement according to claim 2 in which said latching means includes means for the anchoring thereof on said one housing wall.

.4. A mounting arrangement according to claim 1 in which said latching means comprises a U-shaped member slidably supported on said one housing wall with one leg thereof extending into said slot.

5. A mounting arrangement according to claim 4 in which said one leg includes a projection thereon for clamping engagement with said sheet material.

6. A mounting arrangement according to claim 4 in which said legs frictionally engage opposite sides of said one housing wall.

7. A room air conditioner window mounting arrangement for blocking the space between the side of an air conditioner and a side of a window opening comprisa C-shaped frame movable relative to the air conditioner and having parallel upper and lower ,mem-

bers having trackways therein and an end member for engaging said side;

said end member including a vertically extending housing having a vertical slot therein defined by the spaced edges of adjacent mutually perpendicular housing walls;

a self-coiling sheet material including a coil portion contained in said housing and an end portion passing through said slot and slidably received in said trackways for closing the opening generally defined by said air conditioner side and said C-shaped frame and including means for retaining said end relative to said air conditioner for blocking the space between said frame members and said air conditioner; and

latching means slidably supported on the slot edge of one of said housing walls and movable to a position clamping said sheet between said latching means and the slot edge of the other of said walls.

8. A mounting arrangement according to claim 7 in which said latching means is of U-shaped construction with one leg thereof extending through said slot.

9. A mounting arrangement according to claim 7 in which said one leg of said latching means includes a projection for clamping said sheet material when said leg is moved inwardly of said slot.

10. A mounting arrangement according to claim 9 in which the other leg of said latching means includes means for anchoring said latching means onto said one housing wall; 

1. A room air conditioner window mounting arrangement for blocking the space between the side of an air conditioner and a side of a window frame comprising: a C-shaped frame movable relative to the air conditioner and having an end membeR for engaging said side; said end member including a housing having a slot therein defined by the spaced edges of adjacent mutually perpendicular housing walls; a self-coiling sheet material including a coil portion contained in said housing and an end portion passing through said slot and including means for retaining said end relative to said air conditioner for blocking the space between said frame end member and said air conditioner; and latching means carried by one of said housing walls adjacent said slot and movable to a position for clamping said sheet between said latching means and the other of said walls.
 2. A mounting arrangement according to claim 1 in which said one housing wall includes means for supporting said latching means for movement laterally of said one housing wall.
 3. A mounting arrangement according to claim 2 in which said latching means includes means for the anchoring thereof on said one housing wall.
 4. A mounting arrangement according to claim 1 in which said latching means comprises a U-shaped member slidably supported on said one housing wall with one leg thereof extending into said slot.
 5. A mounting arrangement according to claim 4 in which said one leg includes a projection thereon for clamping engagement with said sheet material.
 6. A mounting arrangement according to claim 4 in which said legs frictionally engage opposite sides of said one housing wall.
 7. A room air conditioner window mounting arrangement for blocking the space between the side of an air conditioner and a side of a window opening comprising: a C-shaped frame movable relative to the air conditioner and having parallel upper and lower members having trackways therein and an end member for engaging said side; said end member including a vertically extending housing having a vertical slot therein defined by the spaced edges of adjacent mutually perpendicular housing walls; a self-coiling sheet material including a coil portion contained in said housing and an end portion passing through said slot and slidably received in said trackways for closing the opening generally defined by said air conditioner side and said C-shaped frame and including means for retaining said end relative to said air conditioner for blocking the space between said frame members and said air conditioner; and latching means slidably supported on the slot edge of one of said housing walls and movable to a position clamping said sheet between said latching means and the slot edge of the other of said walls.
 8. A mounting arrangement according to claim 7 in which said latching means is of U-shaped construction with one leg thereof extending through said slot.
 9. A mounting arrangement according to claim 7 in which said one leg of said latching means includes a projection for clamping said sheet material when said leg is moved inwardly of said slot.
 10. A mounting arrangement according to claim 9 in which the other leg of said latching means includes means for anchoring said latching means onto said one housing wall. 